Key & Compass presents:
Ancient Treasure, Secret Spider
by C.E.J. Pacian

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
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Map

Walkthrough

Ancient Sanctum (tied to the stranger)

> about. credits.

In this game, just type the name of whatever you want to flit to and have the stranger focus on. He'll do everything else.

Start with yourself and the characters.

> me. i. (nothing)

> stranger. coat. pocket. husks.

> hat. scarf. goggles. gadget.

> Trala. bicep. sword.

> Lind. ears. goblins. gateway.

> skylight. thread. beam.

Check out the machine.

> machine. wheels. ("dundun")

> doodah. ("deh")

> dank hole. ("woy")

> pit.

Check out the desk.

> desk. papers. books.

> box. ("krikrikri")

> block.

> panel. (The stranger opens the drawer.)

> thingy. ("chu"; he takes it)

> button. feather.

Check out the shelves.

> shelves. scrolls. pot.

> whatsit. ("chu"; he takes it)

> Goddess.

Check out the contraption.

> contraption. door. bits. ("lulula")

> rigamajig. ("ke"; he takes it)

Check out what's left.

> shiny man. square. metal something.

Open the metal something with the thingy.

> thingy. metal something. (The thingy is a key.)

> doohickey. ("chichichi"; he takes it)

> doodad. ("lulula"; he takes it)

> gizmo. ("khong"; he takes it)

Unscrew the door's bits with the doodad.

> doodad. bits.

> tingly hole. ("ke")

> oojamaflip. ("khong")

Plug the rigamajig into the tingly hole.

> rigamajig. tingly hole. (The oojamaflip explodes!)

> oojamaflip. ("deh"; it's broken)

Replace the oojamaflip with the gizmo.

> gizmo. oojamaflip. (The box starts glowing. A goblin hurts Lind! The Stranger bites the goblin!)

Open the grey block with the whatsit.

> whatsit. block.

> dealie. ("krillikrilli"; he takes it)

> widget. ("krillikrilli"; he takes it)

Movie time! The dealie and widgets are recordings and the brass box (when lit) can play them. Use the widget first.

> box. (The ancients evolved into goblins.)

> dealie. box. (It's about the machine.)

The stranger webs the wheels together and smashes the shiny man. Trala and Lind, shocked, start to whisper.

> Lind. (The stranger must be a cosmic spider.)

Check out the smashed shiny man.

> shiny man.

> whosit. ("chu"; he takes it)

Open the square with the whosit.

> square. dingus. ("pliplipli")

> doojigger. ("woy")

Connect the hose-like doojigger to the dank hole.

> dank hole.

Turn the dingus with the doohickey.

> doohickey. dingus.

The machine rumbles! Trala is poisoned! The stranger doesn't see the metal stick that came out of the ground!

> stick.

Trala, Lind, and the stranger get onto a platform that elevates the party up to the top of the chamber.

Secret Treasure of the Ancients (tied to the stranger)

Lind pulls another stick to lock the platform in place so the goblins can't follow.

The stranger dissolves the thread that keeps you tethered to him.

> platform. gold. jewels. tear.

> sceptre. thread.

The Stranger leaves. Maybe you'll wait for his return.

*** THE END ***

> goblins

*** THE OTHER END ***

Extras

Characters

• You are a fairy, the cleverest and the most beautiful, in fact, but you had the misfortune to get tangled in the stranger's silk and spent the first half of this adventure trapped in his coat pocket.
• The stranger is a male cosmic spider searching for a female cosmic spider to be his mate. The others don't know this because his entire body is covered in clothing. He keeps pointing his gadget at things and listening to the odd sounds and words that the gadget makes in response.
• Trala is a large muscular woman who wields her greatsword against the goblins with practiced skill. You want to be her boon companion for many adventures.
• Lind is a beautiful elven man who uses his magic to heal, defend, and protect. He has no idea he's destined to fall madly in love with you and die of a broken heart.
• A horde of goblins are determined to stop your party from stealing their ancient treasure, but Trala and Lind are holding them off. For now.
• Boss-mum is the matriarch of the goblins but only arrives after the fighting is over.
• The Goddess gives you hints if you pray.

Found dead:

• Husks of dead fairies are in the stranger's pocket, drained of their life essences. Shame they weren't as nimble and cunning as you are!

Mentioned:

• The ancients, who originally owned the treasure, were beautiful, but over time, they evolved into the goblins you see today.
• The female cosmic spider left a red silk thread so males could follow it and find her. You warn the male that the female usually eats her suitors, but he is undeterred.

Credits

This is the response to CREDITS:

Ancient Treasure, Secret Spider by C.E.J. Pacian (email redacted)
For the Iron ChIF: Pilot Episode, conceived by otistdog.

Made using Dialog, originally created by Linus Åkesson, now maintained by the community (especially my Iron ChIF opponent, Daniel Stelzer) and its VSCode extension by sideburns3000.

Special thanks to Rovarsson for testing and feedback and alwinfy for a bug report.

Endings

• THE END
• when the Stranger leaves.
• THE OTHER END
• when you check in with the goblins after the Stranger leaves.

Inventory

As a fairy, you have no material possessions, nor do you want any. So this section is about the Stranger's possessions instead.

Note that the Stranger only directly holds at most two items at a time, one of which is always his gadget. Let's call his other directly held item his current favorite. Other acquired items are kept in his overcoat pocket. Whenever you direct his attention to a pocketed item, he (usually) pockets his current favorite and takes the indicated item which becomes his new current favorite.

When you direct the Stranger's attention to something he isn't carrying, he usually first points his gadget at it. He may then take it (pocketing his current favorite), try to use his current favorite with it, or ignore it.

• a big overcoat, a broad-brimmed hat, a scarf, and goggles. The stranger is wearing them.
• The clothing obscures the stranger's body; he's actually a cosmic spider. The overcoat has a pocket where he keeps his excess inventory.
• a silk thread. It tethers you to the stranger.
• When you and the stranger reach the secret treasure, the stranger dissolves the thread. You're now free to go.
• husks of some fellow fairies. They're in the overcoat pocket.
• Ignore them.
• a gadget. The stranger is holding it.
• It scans and succinctly evaluates whatever item the stranger points it at.
• Three curt clicks means the item is unimportant.
• "Chu" means a key.
• "Deh" means it's broken or damaged.
• "Lulula" is for both screws and screwdrivers.
• "Ke" is for electronical things.
• "Khong" is for fuses.
• "Krillikrilli" refers to recordings.
• "Woy" is for gasses or gas conduits.
• There are other words, but their meanings are less clear.
• a thingy. ("chu"). It's in the desk drawer; find it by examining the panel.
• It's a silver key; it unlocks the metal something.
• a whatsit. ("chu"). It's in the empty plant pot on the shelves.
• It's a small key; it unlocks the gray block on the desk.
• a doohickey. ("chichichi"). It's in the metal something; unlock the something with the thingy.
• It's a wrench or clamp or crank of some kind. After attaching the doojigger to the dank hole, use the doohickey it on the dingus to make the machine's wheels turn and make a metal stick rise from the ground.
• a doodad. ("lulula"). It's in the metal something; unlock the something with the thingy.
• It's a screwdriver. Use it with the bits ("lulula") on the door of the rusty contraption. The bits are screws. The stranger unscrews the bits and the door falls to the floor, exposing a flat wall. The flat wall has a tingly hole ("ke") and a glowing oojamaflip ("khong").
• a gizmo. ("khong"). It's in the metal something; unlock the something with the thingy.
• After the glowing oojamaflip explodes (see rigamajig), use the gizmo on the exploded oojamaflip to replace it. The gizmo glows, the machine shakes, the big wheel spins, and the brass box lights up.
• a dealie. ("krillikrilli"). It's in the grey block on the desk; unlock the block with the whatsit.
• When the brass box is lit up (see gizmo), use the dealie on the box to see a movie about the machine. The stranger watches the movie, using silk to connect the machine's wheels, and hissing starts from the dank hole. Also, the shiny man is broken now.
• a widget. ("krillikrilli"). It's in the grey block on the desk; unlock the block with the whatsit.
• When the brass box is lit up (see gizmo, use the widget on the box to see a movie about the ancients who evolved into goblins.
• a rigamajig. ("ke"). Find it by examining the rusty contraption.
• It's a power cord with one end connected to the huge machine. After using the doodad on the bits, use the rigamajig on the tingly hole; you're plugging a power cord into an electrical socket. The huge machine starts to shake, but then the glowing oojamaflip explodes.
• a whosit. ("chu"). It's inside the shiny man (see dealie).
• It's a brass key. Use it on the square to unlock it, revealing a dingus and a doojigger.
• a doojigger. ("woy"). It's in the square which is unlocked with the whosit.
• It's a hose. Use it on the dank hole to connect them together.

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